Struggling Western Massachusetts college misses enrollment goal by half

Date:

January 7, 2026

After nearly closing in 2019, a Western Massachusetts college continues to face challenges, missing its 2025 enrollment goal by half.

Instead of recruiting 300 students, Hampshire College in Amherst enrolled about 150 new students. That makes for a total of 750 full-time students, Jennifer Chrisler, Hampshire’s newly named president, told MassLive in November.

Chrisler attributes some of the admissions challenges to other institutions opening up their waitlists and taking more students than usual, forcing even more competition between institutions to vie for the same students.

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Struggling Western Massachusetts college misses enrollment goal by half

The Always-On Insight and Networking Platform for Superintendents and Their Teams

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